Russian banks say debit cards may stop working due to Western sanctions

Russian banks are warning debit card holders that new sanctions from the US and UK could mean their cards stop working abroad.

Emails from multiple Russian banks urging their customers to withdraw money from accounts linked to UnionPay-branded cards as soon as possible came one day after the US and UK implemented sweeping new sanctions authorizing the rejection of transactions from a list of Russian financial institutions.

UnionPay is a Chinese payment system that some Russian banks were using before the war, and more turned to it after MasterCard and Visa pulled out of the country following the invasion a year ago.

The sanctions are set to fully kick in by May 25, according to the US Treasury Department.

“Due to the imposed sanctions, operations on your UnionPay card abroad may be suspended in the near future,” Zenit Bank, which is included on the sanctioned list, wrote in a mass email, Russian business news channel RBC reported. “We recommend promptly withdrawing the necessary funds.”

Other banks followed suit.

“If you are not in Russia, withdraw money from your UnionPay card. In the Russian Federation, all cards will work as usual, but difficulties may arise abroad: it is better to withdraw cash,” a message from MTS Bank reportedly said.

Similar warnings also came from Primorye Banks, Bank Saint Petersburg, and Uralsib Bank. In total, five out of a dozen Russian UnionPay car issuers are included on the new list of sanctions.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the sanctions are intended to cut off money for Russia’s military in response to the ongoing war.

“Over the past year, we have taken actions with a historic coalition of international partners to degrade Russia’s military-industrial complex and reduce the revenues that it uses to fund its war,” Yellen said in a press release Friday. “Our sanctions have had both short-term and long-term impact, seen acutely in Russia’s struggle to replenish its weapons and in its isolated economy,”